CWA Asset Management Group LLC Invests $1.87 Million in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 41,558 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VZ. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Verizon Communications during the third quarter worth $31,000. Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Verizon Communications by 137.6% in the third quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 777 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Verizon Communications in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Verizon Communications during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VZ shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp cut Verizon Communications from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Verizon Communications from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.37.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:VZ opened at $40.48 on Friday. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.40 and a 52 week high of $45.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $170.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.43.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.01. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 20.05% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $33.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.678 per share. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.70%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Verizon Communications’s payout ratio is presently 116.81%.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).